ABSTRACT
Drug-induced changes in thyroid hormone levels are frequently encountered in clinical practice and can make the interpretation of thyroid function test results very challenging. Thyroid function testing is a critical clinical tool for the assessment of a patient’s thyroid status, and it is vital for the clinician to suspect the possibility of drug-related changes that could either cause or masquerade as thyroid dysfunction. Iodine is an essential component of thyroid hormone and patterns of dietary iodine intake have been related to predispositions for development of thyroid disorders. The risk of hypothyroidism associated with lithium therapy is predicated on several underlying issues, including pre-existing autoimmune thyroid disease, gender predisposition, dietary iodine status, exposure to goitrogens, and duration of lithium therapy. Numerous tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been associated with the development of primary hypothyroidism, including axitinib, cediranib, dasatinib, imatinib, motesanib, nilotinib, sorafenib, and sunitinib.
